Every winter, this is one dish that becomes a regular on my table.
While this city is pathetic when it comes to
the availability of fresh greens,
winter is one time when we do get some fresh bunches of methi, palak
and sometimes the sarson.

Last year, when I had cooked this, I had clicked some snaps.
But never got 'round to making a post.
So this time, instead of making this for dinner, I made it our lunch.
So could click ... and hence this post.

I never try to make this dish ... a complete meal ... at one go.
Becomes quite overwhelming that way.
What I do is ...
work with sarson ka saag one day ...
I clean, wash, boil in water, puree it ..
and freeze it.

Work on the palak next, when I get some time.
Exactly the same way ... and freeze it.
So, on the day I decide to make this dish, all I need to do is get the purees and cook!
Easy and quick again !!

I love the coarseness in the mustard greens' paste ...
so usually add the stems along with the leaves.
If you feel that will add to the sharpness
of the sarson,
just add a little more of the palak paste.

And I never use chopped onion or garlic in this.

And the fried garlic gives it a wonderful rustic flavour.
Pair it up with butter, and this dish is something that you will want to make again and again.

If you cannot make the makke ki rotis, you can still enjoy this with plain rotis.
But then, of course, it won't be the same.

I am posting the recipe the way I make it.
I do not claim this to be the traditional way it is cooked
in the North or the Punjab.
And so I do not want any rude comments on how this is not the authentic way, etc.etc.

Heat a tawa.
Cook the rotis, flipping occasionally.
Use the spatulla or a thick, folded cloth to apply slight pressure on the rotis
so that they puff up slightly.
When done, remove and apply butter on them.

Monday, 7 February 2011

In spite of my trying real hard, I have not been able to post as frequently as I'd like to.

The days stay busy, with a thousand chores
awaiting.
And I need more time than usual to finish a job now.

In the midst of all this I cook.
But of late cooking has mostly been on the spur.
Decide, prepare, cut/chop, cook, serve.
With almost no time to arrange a plate and click snaps.

But it does nag at the back of my mind when I prepare something good enough to share
with you all.
So no matter how quick I have to be, I try to manage a few clicks.

I've been craving for some good old fashioned Vanilla cake for a while now.
With eggs.
So baked one last weekend.

With winter gone and the weather turning dry and hot,
it is the evenings that are so endearing now.
A heavy breeze blows that takes me back to summery evenings back home.
Our garden had a grapefruit tree.
And the only thing I loved about it was the flowers.
Or rather their smell.

Citrusy, fragrant and so so sweet.
The evening air would be heavy with a mix of their smell and the smell of wet earth from the
just watered garden.
The elders would be sitting down to a cup of lemon tea
accompanied with something baked ...
either cakes or bakery biscuits.

I baked this cake just around evening, heart heavy with memories.

Just as I set about pouring the batter into the baking bowl,
I spied some beautiful oranges sitting on the table.
Immediately kept some batter aside
and added some orange zest to it.
Baked some cupcakes out of that batter.
Ok ... not some, exactly 5 cupcakes.

The zest gave such a wonderfully warm golden and light sunshine colour
to the cupcakes that
it almost hurt to eat them.
And the aroma of orange coming out of a warm cake is just so heady!

I threw in some choco chips that promptly sank to the bottom.
But it was fun to break open a cupcake and discover the chips in them.

The cake was perfect.
Brown and slightly crusty top.
Very soft and fluffy inside.
Melt in the mouth perfect sweetness.
Am so happy with it that I'm going to write the recipe here.
If not for anybody else,
then for my own self ... lest I forget.

By the time the cupcakes came out, we had finished half of the sponge cake ...
warm and just out of the oven.
So just the other half for a click.

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About Me

Juggles with software, knitting, reading, cooking, classical music,writing and home decor.
Loves Enid Blyton and Rabindranath with equal passion.
Roams the country when life seems a wee little overwhelming.
And when at peace too.
Loves everything traditional and cooks with the minimal of ingredients and time.
Holds on to sun rays and moon beams with equal fervour.